Troll Lord Games

Do you use miniatures (or other placement markers) in your C&C games?

I replied 'always' but a couple of years ago it would have been 'never'.

I used to never use miniatures in my AD&D games when I started back in the late 80's and the first time I touched mini's where in my 3rd edition D&D games. That said, the only reason I started using mini's in my C&C game (I already ran for a year without any) was to help the newer players conceptualize the battle field.

What brought me to C&C was because it was easier to play without mini's like AD&D used to be which makes me using them now very ironic.

M
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"You face Death itself in the form of... 1d4 Tarrasques!"

Partner to Brave Halfling Publishing
http://www.arcanacreations.com

No, I don't use them. I have been tempted to, at times, just because I have some really cool looking ones... but it would just be to show off, and not for game play.
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Serl's Corner

We use them almost all the time as we tend to use a Chessex Battlemat for most complicated battles. The players always use figs for their characters and the CK usually uses figs for the baddies. When I CK, I always use six-sided dice to represent the bad guys.

~O
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> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

I picked "sometimes", but I don't actually use miniatures. Instead I use counters from Cry Havoc! and the other games in that line. Like Omote, I generally only use them for complicated or very large battles - say, assaulting a castle, or in a place with staggered elevations.
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"I don't wanna be remembered as the guy who died because he underestimated the threat posed by a monkey."

My group always uses miniatures. I couldn't care less, but most everyone comes from the 3.5 background (except for a couple of us who are older grognards--AD&D 1e or OD&D).

One of my players (whose house we use) has more mini's than you can shake a stick at. We use a battlemat and I try to keep up with my Dunjinni to draw up colorful encounter rooms.

I'll admit, it helps us to keep a good overview on combat, especially last session when they re-entered the Ur-Flan ziggurat and had to face a dozen skeletons, a zombie troll, six human guards and a 5th level cleric--all in the same encounter (yes it was excessive--but it was a learning experience for them: DO NOT LEAVE THE DUNGEON WHEN YOU HAVE SURPRISE AND INITIATIVE ON YOUR SIDE, the enemy will prepare for your return).

I replied always, though since the new daughter has been running around and no dedicated game room available my stuff is stored away, it has been none. For my group it simply makes visualizing the relative positions of things easier....and keeps the players honest about their move speeds.
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The obvious will always trip you up FAR more than the obscure.

Baron Grignak Hammerhand of the Pacifica Provinces-

High Warden of the Castles & Crusades Society

We use them, always, pretty much for every rpg game. though I personally hate using them. Most of the people I play with really like using them. I think it by default puts the focus on combat. As a kid we never used them and it gave a certain freedom to combat.

I use them sometimes, mostly as others have stated to show off. Prefer to use them because I purchased an outrageous quantity of figures over the years. Some players are not miniature friendly.

I use them always now. Like Moriarty I didnt start out that way. I never used them through my first BECMI D&D campaign or the Palladium RPGs I played soon after. My first introduction to them was playing GURPS Autoduel and later on Mechwarrior. D&D3 relied on them (it seemed) so now everyone has their own set, and when you have them you use them.
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The Rock says ...

Know your roll!

I put down "never," but my players keep pushing me to use a miniatures and a battlemat so they can visualize the fight better. Sometimes, though, I think we'd do fine if they would just listen more.
And after the thief got a potion of spider climb, he was constantly asking how tall everything was, so I was like "And how would a battlemat be any better in this case? Do I have to get a 3-D terrain set?'

After the players started using fly all the time, I just started putting the height as a little note on any structure I put on the mat. Inevitably at least one character would want to know how high it was.

Ha! In commanderFuron's city based fights on the battlemat, v3.5 combat looked more like some city engineer's guide to downtown Baghdad. Congested streets, buildings all clumped together, courtyards with walls, and on every size building (sometimes buildings has multiple elevations) there was an numeric elevation notation. It was cool looking, but crazy in v3.5 combat.

Also kind of reminded me of some urban, modern combat game. Something like Call of Duty 4, but with crazy D&D guys and terrasque.
~O
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> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

Baghdad = Sigil

commanderFuron wrote:
Baghdad = Sigil

[inside joke]Too true. Also, Sigil = shitty Vancouver.[/inside joke]

~O
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> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

Hello,

If by minis you mean "something or other to indicate where stuff and people are in combat" then yes always. Sometimes not official minis, but yes we always use them.

For my case it can be tracked to a very bad AD&D DM I had. In one part of an adventure, the party was on a narrow ridge fighting a demon. Even though we could only be 2 wide, the demon (about 12' tall) kept attacking the wizard in the back of the party with hand to hand attacks.

In the second part of the adventure, he would not stop his describtion of approaching bandits, until they were in hand to hand range. Even stopping us and saying "wait a minute I am not done".

In the third part of the adventure, we were in some ruins with climbable towers. As a player, I ask the DM to use a battlemat because it was confusing me. He complied and the combat was much less frustrating.

I have never looked back.

RK

We use them (SJG's Cardboard Heroes) so we can keep track of who is where. It helps to have visual depiction of the battle/encounter area also, so I use SJG's Dungeon Tiles as well.
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Lord Aladar

Warden of the Welk Wood

Baron of the Castles & Crusades Society

The Poster formerly known as Alwyn

Senior Gamer - Member of the Senior RPG Tour

"NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT - At least not in Yu Gi Oh"
http://www.cncsociety.org/

I said "sometimes" because I don't use them constantly games. They're not always out, showing up-to-the-minute representation of what's coming out of my mouth. The only time I use miniatures is when combat starts, and it's not grid movement, ala 3.5 D&D - they're out to show where the characters are in relation to their foes.
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LD's C&C creations - the witch, a half-ogre, skill and 0-level rules

Troll Lord wrote:
Lord D: you understand where I"m coming from.

Of course most of the time a lot of them are stuff out of a gumball machine (we have a green pig that has a vast history and story behind it) or in one case a 20mm bullet (sans case). Mostly we bust 'em out when it is vitally important to know location. Other than that imagination and the CKs descriptions are more than sufficient.
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I'll tell you what I do like though: a killer, a dyed-in-the-wool killer. Cold blooded, clean, methodical and thorough. ~Zorg

What do you guys use when you just don't have the right mini?

I've used poker chips, backgammon chips, dice, and chess pieces.

I saw an article in Dragon magazine with stats for giant Dorito monsters and stuff in case people dropped one on the map.
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The Rock says ...

Know your roll!

Wolfram_Stout wrote:
Hello,

In the second part of the adventure, he would not stop his describtion of approaching bandits, until they were in hand to hand range. Even stopping us and saying "wait a minute I am not done".

RK

That's not a lack of minis, that's an overabundance of railroading. LOL!

Now for non-C&C games, I've used minis. In fact, I have a whole stash of gridded maps and tiles from my 3.0 games.

I might have to resurrect them for my players, who have been complaining lately. Especially the docks when I have the wereshark attack.

anglefish wrote:
I might have to resurrect them for my players, who have been complaining lately. Especially the docks when I have the wereshark attack.

That sounds cool.
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The Rock says ...

Know your roll!

I'm a sometimes.

Back in my 2 ed heyday, needed em for groups of NPCs numbering 10+, surrounding and flanking... or just to get an idea whats where and such. Usually try to avoid them, and keep it in the imaginatino, but sometimes there's too much to follow.

like others, there's be 1 or two 'real' minis, some pennies, d6's... plastic toys, whatever.

anglefish wrote:
"And how would a battlemat be any better in this case? Do I have to get a 3-D terrain set?'

Yes. Yes you do.
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Thomas A. Tullis

Fat Dragon Games
www.fatdragongames.com

Castles & Crusades...more D&D than D&D.

Shameless.

Speaking of shameless, you should run adventures published by Brave Halfling Publishing.

Relaxo wrote:
Shameless.

Speaking of shameless, you should run adventures published by Brave Halfling Publishing.

Already do, hoss! I love BHP adventures!!!
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Thomas A. Tullis

Fat Dragon Games
www.fatdragongames.com

Castles & Crusades...more D&D than D&D.

I am first and foremost a miniature gaming, I have waned in and out of Card Gaming, Role Playing, and any other aspect of fantasy gaming, but fantasy miniatures have always been my favorite, and my consistent hobby.

I am planning on using Castles and Crusades as a miniature dungeon bashing game.

I really suggest to people who want to delve deeper into miniature gaming to look into Song of Blades and Heroes, it's cheap to get into, and it's loads of fun.

Used them in early 80's for marching order.

Nowadays for complicated combats, I just write initials, letters on piece of paper to show basic layout and freeform from that.

Yes, with a battlemat too. And I try to keep track of encumbrance as well.

You'd have to see how plate armor becomes quite unpopular very fast.